The Quest for Greenland: fool’s errand or savvy power play?

If there was any question that President Trump was serious about acquiring Greenland and making them our 51st state like all the Internet memes say, I suppose those doubts have been laid to rest.

Apparently, the Trump Administration isn’t kidding about purchasing Greenland and making full use of it as a valuable off shore asset. Over the weekend, the President said that he was tired of beating around the bush and threatened to slap 10 percent tariffs on eight European nations in order to do so.

In a Truth Social post, he argued that beginning on February 1, Sweden, France, Norway, Germany, the UK, the Netherlands, Finland and Denmark would have to bear the burden of the tariffs until a sale was made. He added that he would increase the tariffs to 25 percent by the middle of the year, which would remain until a “deal is reached for the complete and total purchase of Greenland.”

Trump argued that the US has been helping Denmark and the European Union out for centuries and that it was time for them to give back because “world peace is at stake.”

Now, as you might imagine, Denmark isn’t amused by the US trying to muscle in on their soil.

Most of the nations that were targeted have vowed to ban together to fight off the expansionary measures, and are doing a lot of tough talk, and justifiably so, across the airwaves.

So the question remains, are these rather extreme attempts to purchase Greenland for national security and foreign strategic purposes, a stroke of savvy political foresight, or is it just political suicide in the face of the coming midterms?

The short answer is, it’s a terrible idea.